7 Pros and Cons of a Surprise Wedding

Surprise! This is actually a wedding. Wait, what? Yes, more couples are tricking guests into thinking they're attending another event or gathering all their friends and family into one place just to do the most unexpected thing possible…get married! The New York Post recently wrote about the growing trend of surprise weddings, and we've seen stories popping up too, like the couple who got engaged and married in just 30 minutes (they tricked friends by telling them they were attending a 30th birthday party) and the bride who surprised her groom with a wedding on his birthday. It's not just a way for celebs to avoid the paparazzi on their wedding day anymore. Remember when Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan tricked everyone into thinking they were attending a graduation party, and then BOOM wedding? There's a lot of really cool and practical reasons why you might want to have a surprise wedding, but before you make any judgements read this list of pros and cons.

A registry and wedding website would pretty much give everything away, and the chances are low that if guests don't know they're going to a wedding that they'll have a gift on hand. You might get a few gifts from guests after the fact, but since there's no etiquette rules around this you shouldn't expect them. This might actually be a pro if you already have everything you need and weren't planning on asking for gifts anyway because it gets you out of the awkward invitation wording.

So you could plan a fun night out with your friends beforehand, but you'd be the only one who knows it's actually a bachelorette and not just a fun night out. For the couple that doesn't like being in the spotlight too much this is great because you can pack all the love into one day. Sometimes the bridal shower or the rehearsal dinner can be the most sentimental though because it's a chance to spend quality time with those closest to you.

A lot of friends and family will make a sacrifices to attend someone they love's wedding that they wouldn't for any other life event. So even if you're planning a surprise wedding under the pretext of another big party they might not choose to come even though they wouldn't think of not being there on your wedding day. The way to get around this is to let your VIPs know what's going on, but then what's the point?

Since it's spontaneous, there won't be an expectation for the finery that usually comes with weddings (unless that's totally your style, go for it). For a surprise wedding the focal point won't be the cake reveal or the floral arrangements, it's going to be the shocking fact that you're getting married right then and there.

Surprising guests on the fly with a wedding instead of planning it out means, you'll save and not just on the save-the-dates and invites that you don't have to send out and since it's more spontaneous you probably won't have to do an entire sit down dinner or five-hour reception.

The surprise wedding is still new enough that the novelty of it hasn't warn off yet. Be a trendsetter and you're guaranteed to have a wedding that everyone talks about for years to come because no one has ever seen it before.